


Words are Law

by generictripe



Series: Cycles ( Fairy Tail Reincarnation AU ) [3]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Daycare, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Multi, Murder Mystery, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-11
Updated: 2016-06-09
Packaged: 2018-06-07 19:37:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6821401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/generictripe/pseuds/generictripe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Her name used to be Levy and she fought with words as weapons.</i>
</p><p>This is currently on a short hiatus. It is not abandoned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Words are law. Words are stable. Words are art. Society is built on ink and paper and communication.

_Her name used to be Levy and she fought with words as weapons._

Those are the things she told herself as she thumbed over the worn shelves of books in her college library. Even books like these (cookbooks and out of date encyclopedias) were worth something. Someone out there had loved these books at one time, whether it was the author or an ecstatic reader. She wanted to love them too. 

_Her name used to be Levy and she wielded magic and had a family worth the world’s riches._

Though reading a Martha Stewart cookbook in the east library on her college campus was not how she wanted to spend the day, the small woman found herself reaching for the most beat up of the set. The spine was _just_ out of reach, her fingertips brushing it ever so slightly. 

_Her name used to be Levy and she had a companion she could never regret having._

But that was in another life, far from her grasp. 

Much like the book she reached for.

“Hey Shorty.” An all too familiar voice grated on her ears. “You need some help?” 

He was tall compared to her that was for sure. But it wasn’t his height that made him so. It was the way he held his head, proud and high compared to the way his shoulder slumped. It was the way his eye glinted dangerously. It was the way he smiled, sharp and cold like the blade of a well forged sword. 

But that was not how he looked upon the woman in front of him. It was so much warmer, as if the steel-cold exterior of his rolled off of him like armor and revealed something much more vulnerable. 

“Gajeel!” Instead of look relieved at the arrival of her tall companion, Levy scowled at him. “I can do it myself.” 

He leaned against the bookcase, amused at her effort. In this life his eyes were not red, through his hair was the same pitch black only worn in a set of thick dread and pulled back in a ponytail instead of let free. He had piercings like before along his lips and nose, only much less and not in lieu of eyebrows. 

“Go ahead then,” he said, his smirk a dagger in her chest. 

_Her name used to be Levy and she was maybe a little taller in her last life._

She groaned to herself, jumping a little. The book, wiggled from it’s place by her efforts, tumbled from the shelf _right_ into her arms. 

Levy paused, her lucky shocking her for a moment. “I got it!” She pumped her fist in the air. “In your face, Gajeel!” 

“You sure showed me, Shrimp.” He straightened up, pulling the book from her hands. “Cooking? You already make the best food I’ve ever eaten.” 

“That’s only because your tastebuds are as dull as iron!” She snatched the book from his hands. “Besides. I’m terrible at baking, which is the focus of this book.” 

Gajeel did not comment on that. He knew better that to poke a sleeping tiger cub. 

“Why are you at the library anyway?” Levy squinted up at him, over the top of her cherry red glasses. 

“You mean besides to visit my little bookworm,” he teased, throwing one arm around her pudgy waist. “Well if you _must_ know, my anthropology class has us doing volunteer work for a project. And _I_ thought I could get away with volunteering at the library so I could get a grade for being with you all day. But that plan was not as thought out as I thought.” 

“What are you going to do,” Levy asked. His grades did not need the punch that a big fat zero would do. 

Gajeel smiled that piercing one of his. “You used to work for that daycare, right?” 

Levy let out a sudden snort, struggling to stifle it in the mostly hushed library. “Y-You? With c-children. _Gajeel_ , kids look at you like you are what they fear lives under their bed.” 

“Hey! I can be fun!” 

“I’m not arguing with that, “Levy grabbed his hand. She led him through the tiny library and up to the counter. As the bored looking attendant scanned the single book she had, she faced Gajeel. “I’m just saying, it might be a little difficult to convince the owner once she sees you.” 

“Is it anyone we would know from _before_?”

There was an unspoken meaning behind that last word. 

He meant in the life before. Before they were reborn. Before when they were in Fiore and member of a mage’s guild. Before they _died_ and were shoved into new bodies. 

“No,” Levy said, taking the book from the librarian. “But she is strict and loves the children as her own.” 

“I’m sure she won’t mind me handing out a few juice boxes.” 

Levy was not so sure. Her hand did not leave his as they walked out of the dilapidated library and out into the afternoon sun. 

It was the weekend and the rarely used side of the campus they were on was mostly deserted. The library was situated on the far east side of the grounds, hidden under the cover of a couple of large oak trees. Next to it was the old student union building, now used as a meeting building by the least funded clubs in the school. 

Levy said it _had character_.

Gajeel said it was a _piece of shit_.

The walk to the daycare was a short one from the campus. It was one of the appeals of the job when Levy took it as a freshman. Now as a junior, she hardly had time to wrestle her G.P.A. let alone a dozen children. It was a tiny brick building, a chain link fence encasing a little yard with plastic playground equipment. There was plenty of children flitting in and out of the toy, screams of delight and indignation rising up over the usually quiet day. 

The woman sitting on a tiny stool beside the door looked like if one humanized a marshmallow. She was round and pale, dressed in all pristine white. Her hair was almost the same color as her dress, white blond in color. Every time Levy spoke to her, she was reminded fiercely of the Strauss siblings and their snow white hair. 

Maybe this plump matron of a woman was similar to how Mirajane would have looked in her later years. She sure had that easy kindness that reminded her of her long lost guild. Though one could argue she was more like Makarov with her many children. 

“Ma’am!” Levy held up a hand. 

When the woman looked up, the former mage’s heart dropped to her shoes. She had deep circles under her eyes and if it was possible she was paler than usual. 

“Hello dear,” she answered, throwing up a frail hand of her own. “Have you come to beg for your job back?” 

“Not this time!” Levy recovered quickly, slipping in through the gate and into the daycare’s yard. Most of the children did not look up, adverting their eyes as soon as Gajeel came into view. 

All ,that is, except for one single scruffy child. 

He was tall for his age, built in all lean muscle and limbs. His hair was dark, barely there and shaved into a close buzz cut. In his large brown hands was a stuffed cat doll. 

Levy did not see them hold each other’s gaze. Gajeel’s was challenging. The child’s was curious, stepping closer and closer to the ponytailed interloper. Levy had her back to the staring pair, talking to woman dressed in all white. She did not see when recognition lit up in Gajeel’s eyes or when the boy suddenly tackled him in what could only be described as a the world’s most violent hug. 

The woman, seeing the ruckus out of the corner of her eye, frowned suddenly. “Hey! Dominque, get off him please!” 

The little boy glared at his caretaker from around Gajeel’s waist. “I told you. That’s not my name. _My_ name is Pantherlily.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _On the wall, above the desk that sat beside the bookcase, was a huge fabric poster. Screen-printed in acrid colors was a graphic of a familiar cartoon girl, hair thrown back in a headband, a long-haired man with countless piercings and a smug looking cat. In large script the words _Fairy Tail_ _adorned the bottom.__

The former Fairy Tail mages fell silent, eyes wide and in awe.

“Li-lily,” Levy said, the word seeming unfamiliar on her tongue. “That’s your name?” 

The boy nodded and she thought she could see something of the Exceed in the boy. Maybe it was the way he held himself, proud and tall or maybe it was the fierce look in his eyes when he said his name. 

“Yes.” The boy said the word like it was a judgement handed down by judge and jury. 

“Oh yes, sweetheart that _is_ your name,” the woman said, in the voice that adults use to pacify a stubborn child. But the way Pantherlily looked at her was not one of a child, but of a ferocious warrior. She got up from her stool, wrapping her arms around the little boy and pulling him away from Gajeel’s waist. “I’m sorry about him. He usually is not this affectionate. In fact I think this is the first time I’ve seen him actually smile at someone.” 

“That’s sweet,” Levy was no longer looking at the woman. Instead brown eyes wandered over to her partner. She had seen that viciously protective look on his face before, but that was an entire lifetime ago in a world that no longer existed. There was no need for such an expression in a peaceful world like this. 

Though his face did not hold her attention for very long. Levy’s eyes lingered on the kind woman as she held onto the squirming boy. She was not moving like Levy remembered. Her movements were stunted and jittery. Unnatural. “Ma’am? How have you been feeling?” 

The woman looked up, releasing Pantherlily. He gave a glance to Gajeel , then sped off inside with the other children. Her skin was so dull, as if covered with a thin layer of dust, her normally bright eyes faded into a tired haze. “It’s been rough. The doctors don’t know what’s wrong. Well they say its stress. I’m just so tired all the time.” 

“Is anyone helping you out?” Levy pressed a worried hand over her mouth. 

The woman nodded. “I’ve brought on some new workers and they have been great. Most of them at least. They all pick up my dead weight.” She chuckled in a way that sounded like it hurt. 

“I’m sure you-“

“I’m alright,” the woman interrupted, waving a hand at Levy. She adverted her eyes to the tall and dark man beside her. Gajeel looked a little less intimidating that usual, having just had a child cling to his leg. It was refreshing and shocking. “And you. You’re Marc-“

He flinched but Levy was the one that interrupted her. “Please ma’am. Call him Gajeel.” 

“Oh,” the woman smirked, life bleeding into her face for the first time. “Are you playing pretend like Lily?” 

Gajeel’s expression darkened, like a storm cloud concealing the sun. With eyes like that, it was easy to liken him to a dragon. Before he could lash out and ruin his chances of a passing grade, Levy placed a small hand on his arm. 

“It’s just a nickname,” she said, shooting her partner a warning glance. 

He relaxed just a hair, but the nasty look did not leave his face. 

From there the conversation dwindled. It was getting about time for most of the parents to come pick of their children and things started to get a teensy bit hectic as more kids spilled out from a local school bus. Plus Gajeel became very difficult, leaving Levy to speak for him while he held his tongue. Even in his anger he knew pissing off this woman in white would mean a failing grade. 

That just means he waited until they were in Levy’s apartment before finally speaking. 

“Damn that woman,” he grumbled, kicking off his shoes at the door. Levy was silent and that seemed to piss him off more. The mocking look on the woman’s face was obviously prevalent in his mind. Levy could tell he was reliving it every time he looked away from her. 

The apartment was really nothing special. When Levy and her longtime friend/roommate Lucy had found it online it had advertised having a ‘spacious open floor plan’ which really meant that the kitchen and living was one tiny combined room. Though the two bedroom layout was exactly what the pair had needed and beggars cannot be choosers with rent this low. 

“She didn’t understand, Gajeel,” Levy said, throwing her keys into the bowl on the kitchen table. Though it is unclear how much you could call it a _kitchen_ table really, since it housed more books and scribbled in notebooks than food. “She teased me when I asked her to call me _Levy_.”

Gajeel muttered angrily to himself, pulling a chair out from the table a little too roughly and sitting down. “I don’t want to do the damn day care shit, I’d rather fail.” 

“Fail?!” Levy turned on her heel, looking a lot taller as she rounded on him. “You can’t fail! What will you do?” 

Gajeel was silent, eyes adverted from the brown ones staring at him like he had kicked a kitten. “Fine,” he finally said, looking disgusted. “But I’ll call Lily by his real name and if she slips up and does not call me ‘Gajeel’ one time I’m leaving.” 

Levy smiled, bright but not sweet. “Good.” 

The women had made the best out of a mediocre situation. Their apartment was undeniably _their’s_. Photographs and memories littered the living room, smiling back at the breathing people from inside of frames. It had been four years since Lucy and Levy had found one another, the memories flooding back like high tide. 

A box tiny television (cracked on the side from the time Natsu had tried to suplex it.) faced the creamsicle orange couch. Many pillows with various kitschy patterns were thrown on the sofa, haphazardly place from use. That is where a certain blond was lounging, watching that t.v. with a look of rapt concentration. A cooking show was playing low on the screen. 

“You guys done fighting?” The brunette sitting next to Lucy had not been visible from Levy’s angle, having been leaning again the blond like she was a pillow. 

“Cana,” Levy frowned. “It wasn’t a fight. Just a _disagreement_.”

She smiled wide, her white teeth reflecting off her brown skin in the lamp light. “Whichever one, you guys need to hush hush. The finalists have to cook their final dish.” Cana waved a hand towards the screen. 

The couple in the kitchen shrugged. They knew better than to interrupt Lucy and her competitive cooking shows. It had become an obsession lately of the blonde’s. Though Lucy did not cook much herself, she loved to watch other people do it especially when things got really ridiculous like they did in reality shows. 

Though why Cana was there was pretty obvious from the fresh purple bite marks, plainly visible on Lucy’s pale neck. 

Finally looking away from the cooking show, she looked up to meet Levy’s eyes. As if she suddenly remembered who she was and how she looked, Lucy ducked her head. Though Cana appeared to be pretty pleased with herself and her red-faced girlfriend. 

Levy tore her eyes from Cana’s smug face when she felt a calloused hand on her shoulder. The look in his eyes told her he wanted to be away from the busty brunette and her girlfriend. It said that this world’s Pantherlily was still prevalent in his mind. 

Throwing a wave up to the relaxing women, Levy led Gejeel by hand out of the living room and into her bedroom. 

If the living room and kitchen of the apartment was _their’s_ then bedroom was truly _her’s_. The photographs, pinned on a corkboard by the door featured Gajeel much more than in the other room. There was a lot more books too, neatly stowed away in a white bookcase that matched the rest of the furniture. The walls were a light yellow, like the color of a freshly cooked egg on a Saturday morning and littered with many painting, photos and drawing. A sort of clutter homeliness wafted through the room, filling Levy with a sense of homesickness. 

On the wall, above the desk that sat beside the bookcase, was a huge fabric poster. Screen-printed in acrid colors was a graphic of a familiar cartoon girl, hair thrown back in a headband, a long-haired man with countless piercings and a smug looking cat. In large script the words _Fairy Tail_ adorned the bottom. 

Unlike many times he had entered her room, this time he looked up to examine the faces of lifetimes passed. Levy watched his eyes flicker over the familiar black face of a certain Exceed. 

“I’ve missed him too,” she said. There was only one person _him_ could be. 

Gajeel sat down on her bed, looking very at home among the brilliantly colored print quilt and numerous stuffed animals. “I thought for a while he might not be here, because he is- _was_ a cat.” 

“But he is here!” 

He nodded. “He is. But why is he a snot-nosed kid? I don’t get any of this.” 

“Lucy and I have discussed it before.” Levy sat down next to him, bed squeaking under their combined weight. “We think maybe it is similar to Tenrou Island. When we got frozen in time it was a defense mechanism triggered by our loyalty. Though with all of our fractured memories it is just a guess.” 

“Out all of the stuff we all remember, why don’t one of us remember the end?” Gajeel lifted his feet, resting them on the bed. 

Levy did not chastise him, instead leaning towards him. “Gray remembers part of it.” 

“He remembers that _Raindrop_ , of course.” 

“Honestly,” Levy said, “it must be nice remembering more than mundane things.” 

Gajeel scowled, looking down at his hands. She wanted to slap herself. She _knew_. There were only a few things that Gajeel could remember. It was the smell of iron and the way it made his mouth water, the pleasant throb in his head after a long fight, and the feeling of her small body pressed to his. 

But those moments came in blurry flashes. The clearest memories of his were not as pleasant. There was blood, on his hands but not his own. There was Levy and her two friends, pinned to a large tree. There was a guilt in his gut that not even another lifetime could erase. 

“Mundane things might be a nice change of pace,” he mumbled. 

“Gajeel,” she said his name like it was her favorite word, brushing her soft hand against his cheek. “I’m _sorry_.” She leaned in closer until her nose was only an inch from his. This close Levy could make out the flecks of gold in his dark eyes and the splattering of freckles over his brown face. Every centimeter of his skin was laid out in front of her like a chart of the stars and she wanted to kiss every single bit of it. 

“It’s okay.” He cocked a sideways grin at her. Though she could see the flash of pain in his eyes. 

“No,”she breathed the word out like a sigh. “It’s not.” The kiss she pressed on his lips was light and gentle, like one would handle porcelain. It was Gajeel though that broke the gap, his strong arms wrapping around her soft body. His kiss was much rougher. With movements that suggested a wordless hunger, they embraced. 

She hated how she looked in this life, short and round like a juvenile bird. But when Gajeel held her tight and safe in his arms, she could forget her insecurities for just a moment. 

They pulled away, breathing harder than an instant ago. 

Before Levy could speak, a rhythmic ring interrupted her. Gajeel didn’t start, instead he just pulled out his phone and squinted at the screen. 

“It’s the daycare..?” He pressed the receiver to his ear. “Hello?” 

Levy stood up off the bed. The daycare was either setting him up with a start date or telling him to hit the road. She was not sure what was worse. When she finally turned around and saw Gajeel’s face, she was amazed someone usually for brown could turn so pale in shock. 

“What wrong?” 

Wordlessly, he dropped the phone from his ear. “The daycare woman. She is _dead_.”


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _A few words can shatter a person like glass._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in this chapter! I ended up going to Animazement last week and did not have time to finish this up! I'll try to update once a week from now on. 
> 
> Thank you for reading. Please tell me what you think if you can!

A few words can shatter a person like glass.

_I don’t love you._

No. 

Go away. 

Goodbye.

Those are enough to destroy a person a little, cracking their souls like the surface of an old mirror. But when Levy heard Gajeel speak those words, she did not shatter. She did not bend. She did not break. She just looked at the ground, eyes wide. 

_Words are powerful._ , she reminded herself. _Use your words_.

“That is te-terrible,” Levy murmured, cursing the crack in her voice and the lump in her throat. 

“What’s gonna happen to the daycare?” Gajeel stared at the phone in his hands, looking at it like it had insulted him. 

“Either go to her son or be sold,” Levy muttered, “Though I can’t say she had many good things to say about him.” 

“What about Lily?” There was that fierce protectiveness again. Pantherlily was _his_ in the last life and in this one Gajeel obviously felt the same way. 

“He has a family, Gajeel,” Levy said, “They will probably find another daycare for him.” 

“Dammit!” He was on his feet, looking as tall as a tower in his ferocity. “Then I’ll- _We_ will lose him again. I can’t forgive that. Not this time.” 

He stepped towards Levy, fists balled up at his sides. But she was not scared. She did not flinch as he wrapped his arms around her neck, murmuring into her flesh. “Not _again_.”

They did not attend the funeral days later. 

They did not speak of the woman they both hardly knew but had seen so close to her last breath. 

They did not mourn. 

Well that would be the ideal. 

Gajeel noticed though. It was unanimous that he was the muscle of their relationship, while Levy was the brains. But he was not _oblivious_. He saw the way she picked at her food as they ate together that day. He saw how her smile was a little slower than usual. He saw her lose herself in thought when their conversation lapsed into silence. 

“Levy?” He put his fork down on the table. 

She looked up. When they had met in this life, Gajeel had been relieved that she had the same honey colored eyes as before. They had been a comfort for him, all those day before their reunion. Though most of his memories were of those eyes filled to the brim with pain or sorrow. 

“Should we have went,” she asked, voice hushed. Though Gajeel’s apartment was not much to talk about, the quiet of it was nice. It was tucked away in the depths of the more stained part of the city, where downtown bleeds into subdivision and then into the shadier looking homes that soccer moms in their SUVs avoided. Though if they looked past their designer sunglasses they would see a community in need of a little TLC and government funding, not the cesspool they anticipated. 

“It was for family,” he said. “ We don’t qualify.” 

Gajeel had lived in that faded neighborhood most of his life, in a tiny house with his father. It wasn’t much of a house. But it had been nice. Though sometimes Gajeel wondered if the father he had in this life, with his piercing eyes and smile like daggers, remembered being a dragon. 

It wouldn’t surprise Gajeel if he did. 

Moving out was a blessing. Having his father close by was a bigger one. 

“Yes. That is right.” Levy picked at her food with the side of her chopsticks, moving the rice around. Take out Chinese food was always a good idea, especially when Gajeel couldn’t cook to save his life. But he could almost _see_ her’s growing colder and colder. 

“Geeze, Shrimp,” He cocked a smirk, an attempt to wipe that painfully thoughtful look from Levy’s face. “Maybe if you ate more you’d grow a couple of inches.” 

Levy rolled her eyes. “I don’t need to eat anymore, idiot. I’ll grow _out_ not up.” She threw a venomous glare to the offending pudge on her tummy. 

“I think you are the _perfect_ size,” he poked, grinning at her over his fork. 

“Then don’t tell me to grow!” She dropped her utensils. “Urgh,” she groaned,”You are infuriating.” 

He leaned over the table, getting closer to those squinting brown eyes. “You love it, Shrimp.” 

The former Fairy Tail mage met him halfway, pressing a kiss to the tip of his broad nose. “I’m not denying that. You’re still a jerk whether I love you or not.” 

Gajeel sat back in his seat. “Guilty as charged.” He’d be a dirty criminal just to see that wide smile stretch across her face. 

Outside the dilapidated apartment building was a sunny spring day. The cold and rainy winter had given away to the spring Gajeel’s partner loved so very much. 

While she had filled her apartment with bright colors and plants that mimicked the season, Gajeel’s apartment was one of dull grey and blacks. Most of his furniture had been second hand, bought from thrift stores or gifted from his extended family. 

It was not much but it was something. 

Minimalism was a style he perfected. Or he would have if it wasn’t for the clutter. Almost no surface of the floor was uncovered. A heap of clean clothes here, a stack of school books there, and countless crumpled up sheets of papers everywhere piles up like snowdrifts in the living room. 

If Levy was a colorful spring, then Gajeel was the harsh cold winter eating away at all things. He liked to remind himself he was not like that anymore. This second life was another chance to be good from the very beginning. It was a chance to give Levy the fairy tale romance she deserved. Though with his empty pockets and unforgiving nature, Gajeel wondered if he was capable of such things. 

“It’s a beautiful day,” Levy murmured, breaking the comfortable silence that had stretched across them. The window in his living room had been thrown open by her as soon as she had stepped in, casting yellow light on his dull apartment. From their seat on his couch, they could see the neighborhood beyond. 

“It is,” he answered, shoving a piece of teriyaki chicken in his mouth. A lifetime could not improve his manners. “Maybe,” he swallowed his food before finishing the thought, “Maybe we could go outside. Y’know enjoy it.” 

Levy grimaced. “I don’t know..” 

“C’mon.” Gajeel grinned. “I didn’t think you were so much of a huge nerd that you wouldn’t want to enjoy the weather.” 

Levy did not speak, instead she neatly set her Styrofoam plate on the coffee table and stood. “Fine. But if _you_ get bored then do not blame me.” 

He mirrored her, shoving his food aside and standing. “How can I get bored?” Gajeel wrapped an arm around Levy’s plump waist. “You’re the most exciting person in this world.” 

“That’s not saying much,” she snapped back, electing to lean in closer rather than pull away. “People are rather boring here compared to Earthland.” 

“Boring is fine sometimes,” he said, pulling her towards the front door. His words held a loaded meaning that anyone who knew their secret could decipher. 

_Boring is fine compared to such sorrow._

Nevermind the pain he had endured. 

Nevermind the pain he had caused her. 

Holding her hand as gently as he could, Gajeel led his partner down the stairs in front of his second floor apartment, each of them creaking ominously under their feet. There was still a fair amount of sunlight out, the afternoon sun high in the sky. 

The warm light played off of her pale skin, casting a halo-like glow around her soft hair. For a moment Gajeel could imagine her with curly blue hair, falling down her front in ocean waves. But that was not how his partner looked now. A lifetime could not make her beauty suffer,even if she _was_ different now. She was chubbier now, round in places she had not been. Her hair was an auburn color, cut into almost the same style as before and still held back by a thick headband. 

Gajeel did not notice he had stopped at the base of the steps, letting Levy walk a few paces ahead. She turned, flashing him a confused smile. Her eyes were the same, warm and the color of ancient amber. 

“What is it, Gajeel?” 

It was easy to imagine her being held back by Lily, blood and tears staining her face as she reached out for him. It was easy to imagine the despair sinking into his own heart as he felt himself disappear. It was easy to imagine another time where they didn’t get a chance for a future. 

Gajeel jumped at the gentle hands that wrapped around his arm. Levy was looking at him with amber eyes that told him she _knew_.

“I love you,” he said it like it was the last thing he was allowed to speak, under the afternoon sun and in front of a crummy apartment building. 

She smiled like she had just finished a new book. “I love you too.” 

They walked arm in arm after that, the towering fright of a man with his little fairy. A comfortable silence stretched between them, colored with sighs of contentment and loving looks. 

The neighborhood was mostly quiet. It was a Sunday, most of the residents either at religious services or relaxing inside and away from the rising heat. Large and shady trees shielded most of the sidewalk from the hot sun. Gajeel had to admit it was kind of nice to walk with the person he loved on a warm afternoon. It was almost like a page from one of Levy’s cheesy romance novels that she wouldn’t admit she read. 

He was so caught up in _her_ that he did not notice that they had turned on the street he was unfamiliar with until they were halfway down it. It was a little nicer than the other streets in subtle ways, like the paint on the homes and the cars in the driveways. 

As he glanced around at the small displays of frivolity, Levy stopped. “Hey Gajeel? Is that..?” 

Tearing his eyes away from a practically nice car, Gajeel found himself looking at a familiar brown-skinned scrawny boy. “Is that Lily?” Just as he threw up a hand in greeting, two even smaller children popped their heads out from behind the tree Pantherlily stood beside. 

Though Lily probably stood out among most children for his fierce eyes and stern demeanor, the two newcomers might have been just as strange in their own ways. 

The only girl of the trio was tiny, build like a ballerina in form and the proud way she held her head. Though the whole bearing seemed a little surreal coming from a child with frizzy blond hair and a Hello Kitty bandage on her cheek. She eyed Gajeel and Levy with distrust, her hands shoved in the pockets of her dress. 

The other boy had a wide-eyed look about him, like he had saw something and could not decide whether it was exciting or terrifying. His shirt, blue with a picture of a fish on it was stained and frayed. He seemed a little more normal than the other two, possessing the glint of a child in his eyes. Though as he watched the two adults, bouncing on his feet like a rubber ball, he threw a hand up. “Gajeeeeeeeel! Leeeeevy!” 

“Oh my _God_ ,” Levy said, voice hushed with awe,”That’s Happy.” 

Gajeel looked again, scanning over the two new children. There was something about the scruffy looking boy that he could effortlessly imagine attached at Natsu’s shoulder. It was the same for the strict-looking girl. She could be easily placed next to Wendy and look right at home. 

The blond girl was quick to reprimand her friend. “Stop, you idiot! We do not know if they really are them.” 

Lily was the one that spoke this time, gaze not leaving the two adult. “Isn’t it obvious Carla?” 

“Maybe they know where Natsu is,” Happy interjected, “or Wendy!” 

The mention of Wendy soothed Carla, even though she still watching them closely. 

“I’m afraid,” Levy said, slowly, “that we have not found Wendy.” One look at Carla made Levy backpedal instantly. “ _Yet_. We are looking for everyone.” 

“What about Natsu,” Happy asked, quieter than before. 

Gajeel made a face, remembering the Flamebrain. “He is around. _Too bad._ ”

“What’s happening to the day care,” Levy asked what was on both of their minds. 

Lily scowled, looking at the ground thoughtfully. “The owner’s kid is awful. He is mean and-“ He looked back up, tear welling up in his eyes. Gajeel was immediately reminded that despite being an Exceed, Lily was a _child_ in this life. 

“Hey,” Gajeel spoke in a voice he hoped was soothing. “It’s alright, Lily.” 

The child nodded, sniffling. “At least my momma is finding a new one for me.” The sudden lapse into more childish endearments made Gajeel’s heart ache. 

“Do you live around here?” Levy stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Lily’s shoulders. 

He accepted the hug hungrily. “No. Happy does. We come over to play on the weekends. But the new place my momma looking at is really expensive.” 

“I wonder,” Gajeel started, “I wonder if it’ll still be okay for me to volunteer there for my class.” 

“Gajeel! You idiot!” Levy glared at her partner. “Don’t be so selfish.” 

“No! Levy, it’s not like that. I mean I could go there and snoop!” 

She broke out into a smile. “Gajeel. You’re brilliant.” 

That made him smirk. “Well make up your mind, Shrimp.” 

“You could find out what he intends to do with the day care,” Levy said, poking him in the side. “And get your project done.” 

“Sounds like win for everyone,” he muttered. 

Though Pantherlily did not look so convinced. “Gajeel. Be careful. The new _owner_ doesn’t sit well with me.” 

_Ah. Back to talking like before._

“Don’t worry about me,Lily,” Gajeel said, his grin more of a growl than anything. “When have I ever messed up _that_ badly.” 

The next day Gajeel took advantage of his free period and Levy’s absence to sneak off to the day care. He had opted for a button up and nice jeans, wanting to make at least a decent impression on the person that had caused Lily so much grief. 

_Make him trust me._

That was his plan at least. It was simple but could work if he kept his head cool. 

Gajeel was _not_ afraid of some old man that frightened children. But he did take a step back when the door to the daycare opened. 

It was not fear in his heart but shock. He had seen this man’s face before in a different life that he associated with blood and regret. 

“Jose?!” Gajeel still hadn’t regained his composure, breathing in sharply. 

The man in the doorway smiled. “Well Gajeel, I’d say it is nice to see you but it is hardly a treat to see a traitor once again.” 


End file.
